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People

Michael O'Brien

Partner

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Tel: +1 416 617 0533

Email: mobrien@tyrllp.com

Bar Admissions: Ontario, 2013

Practice Areas:

  • Arbitration
  • Class Action Defence
    • Advertising & Consumer Claims
    • Appellate Litigation
    • Commercial Disputes
    • Competition & Anti-Trust Litigation
    • Defamation Claims
    • Directors & Officers Liability
    • Franchise Disputes
    • Leasing, Development & Management Disputes
    • Professional Negligence
    • Public Interest & Constitutional Litigation
  • Employment Litigation
  • Investigations & Regulatory Defence
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Technology & Privacy Disputes
  • Shareholder, Partnership & Securities Disputes

Michael takes a practical and strategic approach to solving complex problems.

Michael is a partner at Tyr LLP. He carries on a complex trial practice that includes commercial and civil matters, private arbitrations, public inquiries, investigations and class actions. Michael represents publicly-traded and privately-held companies, directors, officers, shareholders and professionals in all manner of disputes, before courts, arbitral tribunals and regulators. His experience covers a range of sectors, including energy, technology, financial services, infrastructure, manufacturing, real estate and consumer products.

Michael has a special interest in the political sector, including elections finance, conflicts of interest and lobbying law. He has considerable experience advising businesses and individuals, including public officials, responding to inquiries from regulatory bodies and legislative committees.

Michael has received several prestigious awards and recognitions for his litigation skill and client service. He has received the Lexpert Rising Star Award for leading lawyers under 40 in Canada and has been repeatedly included in Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under list. He is ranked by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star, by Lexpert Canada as a “Repeatedly Recommended” Corporate Commercial litigator, and by Best Lawyers in Administrative and Public Law. He has appeared in Lexpert Canada special editions for Energy, Litigation and Bankruptcy and Insolvency.

Michael is the Vice-Chair of an American Bar Association subcommittee on Class and Derivative Actions, the former editor of the Class Action chapter of the ABA's annually published Recent Developments in Corporate and Business Litigation, co-author of its Cross-Border and Multijurisdictional Proceedings chapter, and a contributing author to the fourth and fifth editions of Defending Class Actions in Canada. He also teaches the Corporate Remedies course for the Professional LLM Program at Osgoode Hall, York University, and was previously a faculty advisor for the Ryerson LPP Trial Advocacy Training Workshop. Prior to joining Tyr LLP in October 2019, Michael practiced commercial and civil litigation at McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

Community Involvement

Co-Founder & Co-Chair, The Charter Project, a public awareness and education initiative regarding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Board Memberships
  • Chair, Board of Directors, Camp Ekon, 2015-2019
  • Member, Board of Directors, Camp Ekon, 2013-2015
Publications
  • "Comparing Class Actions in Canada to those in the U.S." in Defending Class Actions in Canada: A Guide for Defendants, 5th Edition, LexisNexis, 2019. (chapter co-author)
  • "Cross-Border & Multijurisdiction Class Actions—A Canadian Perspective" in the American Bar Association's annually updated volume, Recent Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019). (co-author and co-editor)
  • "Cross-Border & Multijurisdiction Class Actions—A Canadian Perspective" in Recent Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation: Class Action Law, 2016 Edition, American Bar Association, 2016. (co-author and co-editor)
  • "Multijurisdictional Issues" in Defending Class Actions: A Guide for Defendants, 4th Edition, LexisNexis, 2015. (chapter co-author)
Professional Affiliations
  • American Bar Association
  • Litigation Committee, Business Law Section
  • Vice-Chair, Sub-Committee on Class Actions, Business and Corporate
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • The Advocates' Society
Teaching Engagements
  • Since 2018, Michael has been a faculty advisor at the Ryerson LPP Trial Advocacy Training Workshop.
  • Michael is an instructor of the Corporate Remedies class for the Professional LLM program at Osgoode Hall, York University.
Education
  • University of Windsor, JD, 2012
  • University of Waterloo, MA (English), 2010
  • University of Waterloo, BAH, 2007
  • Lexpert Rising Star — Leading Lawyers 40 and Under  (2024)
  • Benchmark Litigation — Litigation Star; 40 and Under List  (2024)
  • Best Lawyers Canada — Administrative and Public Law  (2024)
  • Lexpert Special Edition — Insolvency & Restructuring  (2024)
  • Lexpert Special Edition — Litigation  (2023)
  • Lexpert Special Edition — Energy  (2023)
  • 2024 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Litigation — Corporate Commercial  (2023)
  • Benchmark Litigation – Future Star; 40 & Under Hot List  (2023)
  • Benchmark Litigation, Shortlist — Emerging Talent Litigator of the Year  (2022)